Testing Corner: Prospects and Your Database – Key to Success

What about the people on your in-house prospect list? People who you have had contact with before – through the mail, by phone or online – people who asked for information but did not convert? If they did not convert after the first contact, are they really any better a prospect than someone who is hearing about you for the first time? And if they are a better prospect, does it matter how long there is between contacts?Test: This week we are going to look at an interesting list test that was done by G.A. Wright years ago. The idea was to see if the house list of prospects would outpull a purchased compiled B2B list. But the test went a step further. The house list was segmented by how long the prospect was on the list. The idea was to see if the length of time a prospect had been on the list would have an effect on whether they converted the prospect.Results: The purchased compiled list pulled a response rate of .306%. The in-house prospect list blew the compiled list out of the water:

Current year: 1230% better for a 4.070% response rate

1 year back: 816% better for a 2.082% response rate

2 years back: 357% better for a 1.398% response rate

3 years back: 315% better for a 1.269% response rate

4 years back: 173% better for a .835% response rate

Do you think you know why? Let me know what you think – send me an email with your thoughts to craig@cdmginc.com. We will publish the best responses in our next issue.